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Why: Outreach project for engaging children with hands-on STEM by turning their ideas into captivating scientific art.
Learned: Torque–speed trade-offs via belt drives, rectifier selection/sizing, capacitor charging profiles, basic load management, and parametric CAD for pulley tooth geometry.
The idea of the art piece came from a contestant of the STEM Girl Day Glass Shop Imaginary Invention Contest. According to the invention, a waterwheel is powered by water to charge an electric car.
The electrical energy was generated by turning an electric scooter motor through a waterwheel-belt-driven pulley system. The energy storage device consisted of a supercapacitor bank capable of storing a meaningful charge. The 3-phase current from the induction motor was rectified through a series of full-bridge rectifiers to convert to a DC voltage suitable for charging the supercapacitors. A momentary switch was used to power on the headlight of a 3D-printed Chevy.
OpenSCAD was used to generate the pulley teeth geometry.
The scooter motor and belt were obtained from a broken scooter and a 3D printer, respectively.
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